Car and household batteries

Batteries contain a variety of chemicals and heavy metals such as mercury, lead and calcium which can cause pollution and harm to health.

Metals recovered from battery recycling operations can be fed into the traditional metal markets. Recycling of lead/acid batteries and silver/oxide batteries are currently economically viable.

Consumption of lead/acid batteries for use in vehicles is about ten million per year. Although this represents less than 2% of the total number of batteries sold, lead/acid batteries account for over 80% of waste batteries in terms of weight. Approximately 90% are currently recycled and they can be collected at larger scrap yards.

The UK has no facilities for recycling the general purpose zinc/carbon and alkaline/manganese batteries. These represent about 80% of all batteries sold and are the only batteries that do not contain any toxic heavy metals. Nickel cadmium rechargeable batteries are highly toxic and should be recycled. Collected NiCd batteries are sent to France for recycling. Anybody in the UK wanting to dispose of their NiCd batteries responsibly should in the first instance seek guidance from either the distributor where they purchased the battery, the battery manufacturer or the appliance manufacturer.

Mercury oxide button batteries used in watches, cameras and hearing aids should be recycled where possible for their mercury content via some jewellers, photographic shops or NHS hospitals. Mobile phone batteries should be returned to your mobile phone retailer.